Pierson Taylor's Turner Goes Today Against Bolles

April 30, 1985|By Beth Rhodes of The Sentinel Staff

It was about halfway through the third inning when Brandon Turner began to realize what he had. He easily recognizes the signs. He's seen them before. The Pierson Taylor pitching ace was on his way to his third no-hitter of his high school career, a 10-0 victory over Father Lopez in the Class AA, District 6 championship Friday night.

''I got like eight people out in row and I started getting pumped up after that,'' said Turner, who struck out eight of 19 batters, while walking only one -- Eric Phillips on a 3-2 pitch in the fourth.

Maybe a special warning should be issued to Jacksonville Bolles, the Wildcats' opponent for the regional championship to be played today in Jacksonville. Turner will be back on the mound today and that's Taylor's equivalent to bringing out the heavy artillery.

Turner, a right-hander, is 7-3 and it's been an off season for him. He has compiled a 28-5 record over the last four seasons and he's only a junior. He started at third base on the varsity team as an eighth-grader.

''He hit one off the left-field wall his first time up at DeLand,'' recalled Caputo.

Turner is currently the Wildcats' third leading hitter with a .380 average and 22 runs batted in.

But pitching is Turner's strong suit. He pitched two games his first season and went 1-1. He was undefeated in 10 games as a freshman and collected his first two no-hitters against Lopez and Bunnell. He was 10-1 last year.

This year hasn't gone as smoothly for him, which made the no-hitter even more special.

''It meant a lot. I kind of had a tough start this season,'' Turner said.

He had some trouble with his arm earlier in the season, the Wildcats (16-8) have lost several close games and Turner's been pitching to the tougher opponents.

''He's pitched against the DeLand's and the Spruce Creek's,'' Caputo said. He said two of Turner's losses have come to the Hawks, while he split with DeLand.

Larger, Class AAA and AAAA, schools have dominated the Wildcats' schedule. They hadn't played a Class AA school the entire month of April until the district tournament. And Taylor has not only played the larger schools, in many cases, it has defeated them. The Wildcats were the only non-Five Star Conference school in the Holiday Tournament they hosted over spring break and they were 3-1 in it.

The game today will mark the third time in four years the Wildcats have faced Bolles in the regionals. Taylor won in the first meeting, but lost last year. Caputo thinks things are really starting to fall in place for his team, just in time for the playoffs.

Turner, too, is looking forward to the game. ''After the districts, everything gets better. You're lucky to be there,'' he said. ''And you can see the state championship just a couple of games ahead.''